Page 92 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

My mother must’ve covered the receiver, because her voice was muffled as she answered him. When she came back, her tone had shifted. Cooler. Sharper.

“Well,” she said. “You’ve certainly been making some mistakes recently, haven’t you?”

I blinked. “What?”

“That video, Riley.” Her voice was edged, almost scolding. “Drunkenly yelling at that woman? Honestly, what were you thinking? Your aunt forwarded it to me, said it’s been circulatingeverywhere. It’s humiliating.”

I shut my eyes.Thatnight.

Halloween god damn night.

Damn, I’d tried so hard not to think about it. I didn’t even remember most of what I said. Only that Ava had gone out of her way to make me look foolish.

“I was upset,” I murmured. “Having a hard time with someone who was supposed to be my friend. She did this to me.”

My mother made a sound, half disbelief, half disgust. “You can’t blame everything on other people. Whose fault isthis? The baby?”

I could barely breathe. This phone call was a mistake.

What thehellwas I thinking?

“I didn’t plan this,” I said, voice shaking. “I just wanted some advice.”

“You’ve always been impulsive,” she shot back coldly. “That’s not new. But this… this is different. You’ve already made quite a spectacle of yourself. Adding a child into the mix? You’ll never recover.”

Recover.

Like this was a PR disaster. I was just a brand she regretted ever attaching her name to.

Tears welled up and spilled before I could stop them. One dropped onto the screen.

“I didn’t call to talk about my image,” I said, my throat closing. “I called because I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. And I thought, just once, you could be mymom.”

There was a long, quiet breath on the other end.

Then, almost kindly, she said, “You’ll figure something out. You always do. But I suggest you keep this quiet. For everyone’s sake. And don’t let your father find out, okay?”

The call ended with a soft click.

I stared down at the screen, still wet with tears, hoping it would light up again. That she’d call back and say she was sorry. That she’d ask if I was okay.

But the phone stayed dark.

And the silence in the room felt like it might swallow me whole.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Beckett

Something wasoff.

Off in a way that crawled under my skin and wouldn’t let up, a splinter buried too deep to reach.

Riley hadn’t answered any of my texts. Not a single one. Not the check-in from yesterday morning. Not the stupid meme I sent this morning just to make her roll her eyes. Nothing.

Beckett >>Hey. You sleep okay?

Beckett >>What did the doctor have to say?

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